Saratoga Race Course Notes 07/16

NYRA PRESS OFFICE —-

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.Saratoga Race Course Notes

Whitebeam earns 96 Beyer for G1 Diana score
Casa Creed continues Saratoga success with G3 Kelso score
G3 Sanford-winner Yo Yo Candy likely to return for G1 Hopeful
Eclipse Award-winner Nest breezes for G2 Shuvee; G3 Kelso runner up Annapolis will point to G1 Fourstardave
Pretty Mischievous works half-mile, targets G1 Test
Southlawn prepares for G1 Coaching Club American Oaks
Multiple graded stakes-winner Tax calls it a career at age 7

Saratoga Springs– Juddmonte’s Whitebeam garnered a career-high 96 Beyer Speed Figure when providing trainer Chad Brown with his eighth triumph in Saturday’s 85th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana at Saratoga Race Course.

Piloted by Flavien Prat, Whitebeam tracked the early foot of stablemate and defending winner In Italian. The Brown-trained pair engaged in a stretch duel with In Italian maintaining command until the final strides to the wire before Whitebeam got her nose down first in a final time of 1:48.33.

Brown, who also saddled graded-stakes winners Marketsegmentation [4th] and Fluffy Socks [5th] in the Diana, has captured seven of the last eight runnings of the prestigious nine-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares. After winning his first Diana in 2011 with the following year’s Champion Grass Mare Zagora, Brown saddled Dacita [2016] as well as eventual Champion Grass Mares Lady Eli [2017], Sistercharlie [2018-19] and Rushing Fall [2020].

Whitebeam was the highest odds of Brown’s four Diana entrants, returning $17.60 for a $2 win wager. The same could be said for In Italian [$18.60] when she led a Brown-trained superfecta in winning last year’s Diana.

“It goes to show you, particularly at Saratoga, anything can happen,” Brown said. “This is a very particular course and a tight track and the weather is always a huge variable this time of year up in the northeast. When you have all the top jockeys in a race and get top horses, and top trainers it often makes for some upsets.”

Brown expressed a sense of pride in both Whitebeam and In Italian.

“She showed a lot of heart,” Brown said of Whitebeam. “She tackled the top turf mare in training right now and was able to put a nose on her right near the wire. It was a hard-fought race and she ran terrific. Both horses ran great. She did have the benefit of a six-pound weight advantage, which might have helped her in a matter of inches nearing the wire, but it doesn’t take anything away from her performance and how well she ran.”

After being campaigned in her native Great Britain by Harry and Roger Charlton, Whitebeam arrived at Brown’s primary winter division at Payson Park in Florida earlier this year and immediately impressed her four-time Eclipse Award winning conditioner. She made her debut for Brown when a troubled second in the one-mile Plenty of Grace in April at Aqueduct before defeating next-out stakes winners Sopran Basilea and Bipartisanship in the Grade 3 Gallorette on May 20 at Pimlico Race Course.

“As soon as we put her into a work schedule, every work was outstanding,” Brown recalled. “She’s a sound, smooth and powerful horse with a lot of class. She really is a lovely filly and she always acted like she was top class.”

Following the Diana, Brown mentioned the Grade 1, $750,000 First Lady on October 7 at Keeneland as a possible target for both Whitebeam and In Italian, but said nothing has yet been set in stone.

“Not sure yet. We’ll see how all of them train out of here and talk to all the individual owners and propose what I think is best,” Brown said.

Whitebeam is out of the Oasis Dream mare Sleep Walk, who is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Logician and graded stakes winner Suffused. She comes from the same family as Group 2 winner and prominent European sire Bated Breath. Whitebeam and In Italian are both direct descendants of influential matriarch Best in Show.

On Friday, Brown earned his first stakes win of the meet when saddling Klaravich Stables’ Randomized to a 1 1/2-length score in the Wilton for sophomore fillies going one-mile over the main track. The Nyquist bay made amends from a disappointing sixth in the Grade 1 Acorn in June at Belmont.

“I’m not sure whether we go on in distance or cut back. That’s a decision I’ll make in the weeks to come,” Brown said. “I’m not sure what happened at Belmont, whether she didn’t like the track, the dirt in her face or what. But she had trained very well.”

Randomized is out of the Elusive Quality mare French Passport, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winning millionaire Smooth Air. She was bought for $420,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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Casa Creed continues Saratoga success with G3 Kelso score

LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable’s 7-year-old multiple Grade 1-winner Casa Creed proved he is still at the top of his game with a one-length score over Grade 1-winner Annapolis in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Jimmy Creed bay earned his third graded win traveling one-mile over the Spa’s inner turf, adding to scores in the 2019 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and last year’s Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap.

It’s fitting that the evergreen Casa Creed will now point to a title defense in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on August 12 which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile in November at Santa Anita Park.

Fourstardave, a New York-bred gelding, won at least one race at each year at Saratoga from 1987-1994, including the 1988 Albany, the 1989 and 1991 West Point Handicap, as well as consecutive runnings of the Grade 3 Daryl’s Joy in 1990-91. In 1996, the Daryl’s Joy was renamed the Fourstardave to honor the horse that made 21 starts at the Spa.

Casa Creed has made seven starts at Saratoga, dating to his second-out graduation as a 2-year-old in August 2018 in an off-the-turf sprint. He added the Grade 2 Hall of Fame to his ledger as a sophomore and finished third in consecutive runnings of the Fourstardave in 2020-21.

“He’s now run six years in a row at Saratoga and won four times,” said co-owner Lee Einsidler of LRE Racing. “That’s beyond remarkable. He’s a horse owner’s dream come true. It’s hard to imagine you would have a horse at 7-years-old that’s still at the top of his game. He’s taken us around the world and, honest to God, we’re so fortunate to have him in our life. He’s like one of the family.”

The $105,000 purchase from the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale has banked more than $2.1 million through a record of 32-8-5-5, including consecutive scores in the 2021-22 Grade 1 Jaipur sprinting six-furlongs at Belmont Park. He finished a close second in both the 2022-23 Group 3 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia and was fifth in last year’s Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

Einsidler credited trainer Kenny McPeek for selecting Casa Creed as a potential prospect.

“Kenny said to me, ‘I know you want to run in Saratoga, and this one will get you there. He could be either grass or dirt,’” Einsidler recalled. “But you could never imagine you would have this horse on the track for six years. You buy a horse and hope he can get to the races – and some don’t even make it to the races. But you can never buy a horse at any price and think they would run over 30 times, make over $2 million and take you around the world a couple of times.”

Luis Saez provided Casa Creed with a picture-perfect ride on Saturday, tracking to the outside of 4-5 mutuel favorite Annapolis before making an early move for the lead through the far turn. Casa Creed swooped beyond the pacesetting Big Everest to establish a half-length lead at the stretch call and staved off the bid of Annapolis to stop the clock in a final time of 1:35.51. The victory garnered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Einsidler said much of Casa Creed’s success is down to Mott’s meticulous horsemanship.

“Bill Mott is special. I was with him early this morning and he puts his hands on every horse in the barn,” Einsidler said. “He goes over every horse personally. He’s an amazing trainer and a very close friend. He’s really managed Casa Creed brilliantly. He gave him a lot of time off after winning the Hall of Fame as a 3-year-old and put him away thinking he’d be even better as an older horse and he came back the next spring and was a monster. We’re happy to run him three or four times a year and just take good care of him.”

Einsidler said Casa Creed exited his stylish Kelso score in fine fettle and will hopefully be ready for a fourth Fourstardave attempt in one month’s time.

“We’re going to train him like he’s going to be in the race. It comes up maybe a week quicker than we’d like, but if he’s ready he’ll run,” Einsidler said. “He was perfect this morning – looked fabulous and doing great. He’s come out of the race in perfect order, and if he’s doing good we’ll be there in mid-August.”

Casa Creed has made three previous Breeders’ Cup appearances, finishing off-the-board in both the 2020 Grade 1 Mile at Keeneland and 2021 Grade 1 Mile at Del Mar and ninth in last year’s Turf Sprint at Keeneland. With the Grade 1 Turf Sprint being contested at five furlongs this year at Santa Anita, the rugged bay will again point to the Grade 1 Mile as a year-end target.

Whether or not Casa Creed returns as an 8-year-old to race for a seventh straight summer at the Spa remains to be seen as the ownership group has already been approached about potential stud opportunities.

“We’ve had some inquiries. Not that he couldn’t race next year, but we’ll see,” Einsidler said.

And for those looking to find a potential Casa Creed of their own, it’s worth noting that his dam, Achalaya, has a New York-bred filly by Authentic listed as Hip No. 227 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred Yearling Sale slated for August 7-8.

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G3 Sanford-winner Yo Yo Candy likely to return for G1 Hopeful

Equipment changes by an attentive trainer and a stumbled start by heavy favorite Gold Sweep landed Happy Tenth Stable’s Yo Yo Candy a 46-1 upset score in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford, a six-furlong sprint for juveniles, at Saratoga Race Course.

The victory provided trainer Danny Velazquez his first win at the Spa in his fifth attempt and jockey Angel Castillo a first graded win in North America. An understandably happy winner’s circle was only missing one thing.

“My owners went to Monmouth – we were 46-1 – and they were beating themselves up they didn’t come,” Velazquez said, with a laugh.

The Danzing Candy colt, a $35,000 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase, graduated on debut in May sprinting 4 1/2-furlongs over the main track at Velazquez’ Parx Racing base. He followed with a distant third in the 5 1/2-furlong Tremont in June at Belmont Park, finishing 10 1/4-lengths back of the victorious Gold Sweep.

Velazquez went back to work on the lightly-raced colt after the Tremont and made a number of equipment changes as well as sharpening Yo Yo Candy for his graded debut with a five-eighths breeze from the gate in 1:01.02 on July 1 at Parx.

“That day at Belmont when we ran third, he ran very green and was in and out and never switched his lead. He was a green horse on a new, big track,” Velazquez said. “So, went back home and added blinkers and put a figure-eight to shut his mouth and tongue tie. We took him back to the gate three times to get that speed into him because he didn’t break sharp, either.”

The adjustment paid dividends Saturday as Yo Yo Candy broke well and tracked in third position while Dickens and Market Street dueled through splits of 22.15 seconds and 45.83 over the fast main track. Castillo angled Yo Yo Candy four-wide for the stretch run and he drew off to win by 2 1/4-lengths over the late-charging Gold Sweep. Yo Yo Candy stopped the clock in 1:11.83 and earned a career-best 71 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I loved when he was sitting third. It seemed like Angel had him real comfortable behind the pace and when he tipped outside, it was just enough to go,” Velazquez said. “I tried to keep one eye on him [Gold Sweep]. I saw the stumble and you hate to see that, but that’s horse racing. After that, we were just cruising and I lost all track of Gold Sweep. I was just focused on my horse.”

Yo Yo Candy is likely to train up to the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful on September 4 at the Spa.

“I think that would be a good target,” Velazquez said. “He’s an easy horse to maintain and he loves his training program. We pressed him a little harder going into this race because I felt we needed to come ready. We put in three big works – an extra gate work – I wanted everything to go right. I didn’t want him to break slow or have no gas. If we lose, we lose because the horse didn’t have the talent – but not because of preparation.”

The California-bred colt, out of the multiple graded-stakes placed Two Punch mare Yolanda B. Too, is a half-brother to graded-stakes placed Treble.

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Eclipse Award-winner Nest breezes for G2 Shuvee; G3 Kelso runner up Annapolis will point to G1 Fourstardave

Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House’s Nest breezed a half-mile in 50 seconds flat over the Oklahoma training track Sunday in preparation for the Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee on July 23 at Saratoga Race Course.

The 4-year-old Curlin bay, conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, has not raced since finishing fourth in last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Last year, she enjoyed a season that earned her Champion 3-Year-Old Filly honors when capturing a trio of Grade 1s in the Ashland at Keeneland as well as the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama at the Spa.

“It was a good work and a nice, strong gallop out. She seemed to keep going,” Pletcher said.

Emerging from nearly an eight-month layoff will be a tall ask for Nest, who was initially targeting the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park in June for her 4-year-old debut. But Pletcher said he has faith in his talented filly.

“We expect big things from her always,” Pletcher said. “It’s a lot to ask of her, but she ran well in her debut going a mile and a sixteenth and she’s basically run well pretty much every start of her career. Hopefully, we have her fit enough to perform well and this is the first step towards big goals.”

Pletcher saddled Bass Stables’ homebred Annapolis to a runner-up finish as the 4-5 favorite in Saturday’s Grade 3 Kelso going one mile over Saratoga’s inner turf. The 4-year-old son of War Front broke a touch slow and was not as forwardly placed as planned when racing from sixth down the backstretch to the inside of eventual winner Casa Creed. Approaching the far turn, jockey Luis Saez began to inch Casa Creed away from Annapolis, who swung four wide around the bend in pursuit but could not catch the winner.

“We didn’t get to the position we wanted in the first turn,” Pletcher said. “We wanted to be laying third behind the five and the six [Big Everest and Filo di Arianna], they looked like the main speed. He tossed his head a touch at the start and got jostled around, so we were sixth in the second pocket instead of the first pocket. Luis [Saez] was on the outside of us and held us in there and got first run at us. I thought he did well once he got clear, but it was a good horse who got the jump start on us.”

Pletcher added that the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap going one mile on August 12 at Saratoga will be a likely next start for Annapolis as well as Emmanuel, who captured the Grade 3 Poker on June 10 at Belmont last out.

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Pretty Mischievous works half-mile, targets G1 Test

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Pretty Mischievous, last seen posting a gutsy head victory in the Grade 1 Acorn presented by Great Jones Distilling Co. on June 9 at Belmont Park, recorded her second work back with a half-mile drill in 49 seconds flat Saturday over Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma dirt training track. The daughter of Into Mischief worked in company with maiden Create Trouble.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said he was pleased with the move as the bay filly targets the seven-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Test on August 5 at the Spa.

“She worked great and I’m very happy with her,” said Walsh. “It was just a half and we’ll do more with her next week – she doesn’t need to overdo it. She’s doing good.”

Pretty Mischievous placed herself at the top of the sophomore filly division with a breakout score in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs where she bravely held off the late surge of the New York-bred Gambling Girl by a neck, providing Walsh with his first Oaks triumph.

“I’ve just been blessed and very lucky to have a horse of her caliber,” said Walsh. “I’ve been lucky that since I’ve started training for Godolphin, every year they’ve produced some very good horses. She’s exceptionally good, and it’s a privilege to have her.”

The Oaks marked the furthest Pretty Mischievous has run in her eight-race career. She cut back to a one-turn 1 1/16 miles in the Acorn and posted a similar trip to the Oaks, holding onto victory by a head over the rallying Dorth Vader.

Walsh said he had been considering a cutback for the filly for some time.

“She’s got bags of natural speed, so I think the timing is very good,” Walsh said. “We were able to give her a little more time between races and we’ve always kicked around the idea of shortening her up, so this seems like a good opportunity. She’s a good horse, and most of them when they’re that good can go two turns or shorten up. She’s just got that natural speed, so why not try to utilize it? We can always go back to two turns if it doesn’t work.”

In addition to Pretty Mischievous, Walsh’s Saratoga stakes hopefuls include the multiple graded stakes-placed Gilmore, who is pointing to the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam on July 28.

Owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan, Gilmore was last seen finishing a closing third in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on June 10 at Belmont 2 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Arabian Lion. He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Gilmore worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00.20 Friday over the Oklahoma in his second work back since the Woody Stephens.

“He’s doing super,” said Walsh. “He’s been great and worked well the other day. I thought he ran great last time and he’s really progressing as the year has gone on. He seems like he’s getting a lot stronger physically, and mentally, too. Hopefully, there’s plenty to look forward to there if we can keep him healthy and sound.”

Walsh also shipped up Andrew Farm, For the People Racing Stable and Windmill Manor Farm’s graded stakes-winner Verstappen from Kentucky for an intended start in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green on July 29.

The consistent son of War Front has finished on-the-board in 10-of-14 lifetime starts, including a determined head score in the Grade 2 Elkhorn in April at Keeneland. His last outing was a close third-place effort in the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial on July 8 at Horseshoe Indianapolis after rallying from ninth-of-10 and coming up 1 1/2 lengths shy of the victorious Me and Mr. C.

“He’s doing good,” said Walsh. “He shows up every time and tries, he really does.”

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Southlawn prepares for G1 CCA Oaks

Robert Masterson’s Southlawn, trained by Norman Casse, seeks her first Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, a 1 1/8 mile main track test for 3-year-old fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

The daughter of Pioneerof the Nile captured the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March ahead of a 10th-place finish as the 5-1 second choice in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

Southlawn broke sharply in the Kentucky Oaks but still found herself five-wide and unable to save much ground, leading to a lack of response at the top of the stretch.

The bay breezed four furlongs over the Saratoga main track in 48.88 seconds Saturday in her first workout since shipping from Churchill Downs, where she worked weekly after the Oaks.

Casse said Southlawn, who initially targeted the Grade 1 Acorn on June 9 at Belmont Park, has progressed from her Oaks effort.

“She had a tough trip in the Oaks, so we decided to skip the Acorn and give her a little bit of time off, a freshening,” said Casse. “She’s had a steady series of works leading into this and been training really well. She looks great, we got a nice easy half mile into her over the Saratoga main track and she handled the track very well.

“Our feeling is that when Southlawn is at her best, she is just as good as anyone,” Casse added.

Deuce Greathouse, Cindy Hutson, Madaket Stables, and Thomas Romano’s stakes-placed filly Ontheonesandtwos completed her first workout here Saturday, covering a half-mile over the main track in 47.20.

“She’s a horse that we are really excited to have back in the barn,” said Casse. “We feel like we are going to have a really nice fall with her.”

Before a layoff that dates back to last summer, the Jimmy Creed 4-year-old won a seven-furlong optional claiming race at Churchill Downs by two lengths over the classy Tarabi, last year’s winner of the Wilton at Saratoga.

“We gave her a chance to grow up a little bit with the idea of coming back for a fall and summer campaign this year,” Casse explained.

Pura Vida Investments’ Rhyme Schemes is being pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special, a 6 1/2 furlong test over the main track for 2-year-olds on August 12.

“He broke his maiden very impressively at Ellis, but he’s still at Churchill and probably won’t ship up for a couple of weeks,” Casse said.

The Ghostzapper chestnut was purchased for $210,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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Multiple graded stakes-winner Tax calls it a career at age 7

Trainer Danny Gargan reported Sunday that multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire and fan favorite Tax has been retired from racing after a 19-start career that saw him win three graded stakes events and more than $1.1 million in earnings.

“We’ve decided to retire him because it was the right thing to do by the horse,” said Gargan. “He’s done enough. We just wanted him to win over the million-dollar mark, and he got well over that.”

Owned by Gargan and R.A. Hill Stable, Tax won the 2019 Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct Racetrack and finished second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, awarding him enough points to start in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby where he finished 14th. He followed with a fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes before a win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course.

During a three-start 4-year-old campaign, he posted a 4 1/2-length romp in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday before his lone start of 2021 when off-the-board in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream. The dark bay gelding made a memorable comeback nearly 18 months later when earning the final victory of his career in Delaware Park’s Battery Park last July.

After a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Challenger in March at Tampa Bay Downs, Tax retired with a record of 19-5-5-1 and total purse earnings of $1,102,190.

Gargan said Tax has been sent to the farm of Dean Reeves, who co-owned Tax through 2021, and will be retrained with an eye to a pony career.

“He went to Dean Reeves’ farm and we’re probably going to break him to be the farm pony next year,” said Gargan. “Maybe he’ll come here to Saratoga next year and be our barn pony here.”

Tax retires as the all-time top earner for Gargan, who spoke fondly of the gelding’s accomplished career.

“He’s my favorite horse of all-time,” said Gargan. “He’s so pretty and so kind for such a big horse.”

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